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Minnesota park reservation system relaunch complete

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota's troubled new state park reservations system is now fully up and running, the Department of Natural Resources said Tuesday.

The DNR has been working with its vendor to beef up capacity since unexpectedly heavy demand caused the system to crash the morning of March 1, when it went online. They resumed taking campsite and lodging reservations for limited dates on March 22 and added additional dates in phases to stagger the load on the system.

On Tuesday, the DNR declared the relaunch complete and said reservations are once again being accepted up to a year in advance. More than 8,500 reservations have already been made online and by telephone, the agency said in a statement.

Courtland Nelson, director of the DNR's Parks and Trails Division, said the division is ready to meet the demand.

The website's new features include photos of most campsites, detailed maps, advanced search options and calendars that show available sites at a park for three weeks at a time.

Reservations can be made online or by calling 866-857-2757 (TTY 952-936-4008) from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, except holidays. Up to 30 percent of the campsites at Minnesota state parks can't be reserved and are available on a first-come, first-served basis.